


stronger than blood

by Hoothootmotherf_ckers



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Families of Choice, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hugs all around, I enjoyed the rise of skywalker I just have specific things i'd like to address, M/M, Post-Canon, discussions of canon character death, fluff mostly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22155400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoothootmotherf_ckers/pseuds/Hoothootmotherf_ckers
Summary: On a much needed vacation, Rey finds herself, Poe and Finn have a way overdue conversation, and no one is ever really gone. Immediately follows the end ofThe Rise of Skywalker.
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 9
Kudos: 138





	stronger than blood

It’s never really quiet on the _Millennium Falcon,_ but there’s a bit of a stale hush in the air nonetheless as Poe and Finn wait. Rey’s been gone maybe an hour or two, and there’s only so many times you can play dejarik or stare out onto the barren sand. So now Poe is making some minor alterations to the cockpit’s wiring as Finn sits upside-down in the copilot’s seat, fidgeting. 

“Okay, seriously, what is it with the desert planets?” Finn blurts out, apropos of nothing. 

Poe jumps. “What?”

“Seriously, like, okay, Jakku? Desert hellscape. Tatooine? Desert hellscape!” Finn says, growing aggravated and swinging upright. “All the Skywalkers are from Tatooine, and Rey is kinda from Jakku, right? And they’re super powerful in the Force. And like, I’m Force sensitive, right? And you know what happened right before that? I went to a fucking desert planet hellhole!” Finn is growing increasingly energetic, with flailing arms, and Poe stares dumbfounded. 

“You’re… Force sensitive,” Poe states blankly. “Since when?”

“ _SINCE-_ ”

“Okay, okay, yes, since the deserts,” Poe hurries. “Were you… planning to share this at any point?”

“I mean, yeah, duh,” Finn says, like it’s obvious. “What do you think I was trying to tell Rey? On, now that I think about it, _another_ desert hellhole? Literally hole, like, because we fell in one?”

Poe has a lot to process right now. “Wait, _that’s_ what you were going for?!”

Finn looks confused. “I mean, yeah, what else?”

Poe smacks a hand to his face. “Finn, buddy, okay, Like ninety percent of the time, that kind of ‘we’re all about to die I have to tell you something’ confession? That thing is that you love someone.”

Finn’s face screws up. “Oh, Force, no! Since when is that a thing?”

“Since forever, man,” Poe laughs, a tightness in his chest unfurling. “Like, come on, _someone_ has to have told you the story of how the General and Han Solo got together, that’s like part of the origin mythos of the whole Resistance, ask Kaydel when we get back.” 

It’s bittersweet, talking about General Organa. Yes, the knowledge that she’s one with the Force is a comfort, and that her life’s work was completed more so. But there was not a dry eye on the base during her memorial just days ago. Poe and Finn have some big shoes to fill, and ones that they are in no rush to replace.

“I honestly thought some of that _had_ to be made up,” Finn laughs, a bit teary-eyed. “Like, okay, I’ll buy the trash compactor, but Solo going after Vader with a blaster? Like, seriously?”

“Force, okay, that’s the least of the stupid stunts Han pulled,” Poe says, laughing. “There was this one time, on this dinky little moon in the Hosnian system…” 

They swap stories until Rey returns to the ship, hours later. She has a very odd expression on her face.

“So, how’d it go?” Finn asks hesitantly.

She looks up. “Er, I think I have some paperwork to fill out?”

That is not at all what he expected. “Sorry, say again?” 

“I know who my parents were, now. And I know who my family is. And who I am.” She looks them straight in the eyes, sunset haloing her in golden light. “I’m Rey Skywalker, and I need to fill out some change of legal name forms.”

She’s instantly enveloped in a tearful group hug. Which nearly collapses entirely when BB-8, unwilling to be left out, rams into their shins at full speed. 

Hours later, the _Falcon_ lands on a small, forested moon somewhere in the vicinity of Naboo. Technically, they should be working right now. Paplatine is gone, Ren dead, and the core of the First Order destroyed, but their work is far from over. However, a day or so after the memorial for those lost in the Battle of Exegol, Finn and Poe were confronted by a determined Rose Tico.

“You two,” she said firmly, shoving her finger in Finn’s chest, “need to get some _rest_. We can hold down the fort for a day or two, take some time off before you fall down. Take Rey, too, she’s going stir crazy. And if you _don’t-_ “ at this point, Poe is all but hiding behind Finn - “I’m the head mechanic and I _can and will_ lock you out of all computer systems and ships. _Watch me._ ”

And that had been that. This moon was the last stop on their weekend break, after the visit to Tatooine and one before in the Lah’mu system. They’re going to spend the night, and then it’s back to work in the morning.

But for now, Rey has raced off into the forest, trying to find the tallest tree to climb or deepest ravine to perform death-defying stunts in, and Finn and Poe are sitting side by side on a fallen tree, watching the sunset. 

_Yeah, fuck it,_ Poe thinks. “So, about that confession that wasn’t a love confession…”

“Yeah?” Finn asks, turning to look at him. “Sorry, are you still upset about that?”

“Oh, I am so not upset about that, you have no idea how not-upset I am,” Poe babbles. “Believe me, that’s some of the best news I’ve heard all week!”

Finn laughs, a little bemused. “Okay, good. Because let me tell you, that was _extremely_ confusing.”

Poe frowns. “Wait, why?”

Finn stares, then smacks himself in the face. Then points with both hands at Poe, then at himself, then Poe again, then himself, making a loud _“HMMMM?”_ sound as he does.

Poe stares, something like hope growing in his chest, as Finn grows increasingly exasperated. “You- me- we’re- oh, for the love of- oh, _fuck it-_ “ 

Finn turns to face Poe and looks him dead in the eyes. “You, my fellow General, are an idiot.” And he kisses him.

 _I have never been so glad to be wrong,_ Poe thinks as he kisses back. 

“Oh, good to see you two finally got your act together,” a wry voice comes from behind them, and the pair spring apart whirling to face whoever it is. And then they freeze. 

“General!” Poe gasps, tears springing to his eyes. Beside him, Finn is gasping like a dying fish. 

Leia smiles, glowing blue arms opening wide. “Miss me?”

Finn dives in for a hug, and proceeds to fall straight through her body. Leia cackles.

“Oh, I was so hoping someone would try that,” she laughs. “Sorry Finn, haven’t worked that part out yet.”

“You’re back! You came back!” Poe almost yells. “Holy shit! Er, sorry General.”

“I’ll let it slide this time,” Leia grins. Her form is an amalgam of sorts - young, nearly as young as she was when the Resistance was the Rebellion, but with the elegant crown of braids more common in her later years. Poe smiles, teary eyed. 

“I’m so-“ But his words are interrupted by a blur of tan and brown, so fast that it nearly knocks him to the ground.

“ _Master Skywalker!_ ” Rey joyfully yells, and then smacks face-first into a tree as she also goes straight through the ghostly general. 

Leia bursts out laughing. “You really are three peas in a pod, aren’t you. What, did you think you’d be rid of me so easily, _Knight_ Skywalker?” She grins. “You all have so much left to learn.”

“I mean, no offense, General, but you _did_ die,” Finn says pragmatically. Poe puts his face in his hands, shaking with either laughter or tears. 

“That I did,” Leia says, grin fading a little. “But since when has a Jedi let something like that stop them?”

Rey does a little dance, flailing her arms, and it’s the most ridiculously cute thing Poe’s ever seen. “Are you here to train me more? I’ve been practicing!” 

“I’m here to train all of you,” Leia says, and Finn’s eyes widen. 

“I get to train with a Skywalker!” he hisses, not quite quietly enough, as he punches the air and does a dance of his own. “A Skywalker, a real, actual Jedi, hot damn, yes!”

Poe bursts out laughing, and Leia turns to him. “Oh, don’t think you’re off the hook, General Dameron,” she says, eyes crinkling. “I left you in command for a reason, but if you think death can stop me from helping out with the Resistance, think again.”

Poe feels like he’s going to faint. “Oh, thank the Force,” he gasps. “General, how the hell did you do this for forty years?” 

“A truly dangerous amount of caf,” she says wryly, and Poe starts laughing. “And delegating. Good start on that, by the way,” she says, angling her head toward Finn. 

“Thanks,” Poe says, blushing and throwing his arm around Finn. “There’s nobody better.”

“Okay, no, there’s probably someone better,” Finn laughs, “But Colonel Connix turned it down. Said she’s too busy these days, and honestly we’d all fall apart without her doing what she does, so I took her word for it.” 

“Caf and logistics, the backbones of the Resistance,” Rey says, smiling. 

“And pure, unadulterated stubbornness,” Leia adds. They stand there for a minute, all four of them, just grinning stupidly with relief and joy and love. 

Then Leia claps her hands. “Well, come on!” she says. “The Resistance won’t run itself, we’ve got work to do!” 

And hand in hand, the heroes of the Resistance walk back to the _Millennium Falcon_ , to a new day.

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw The Rise of Skywalker yesterday, and honestly I loved it. With the obvious exception of fuck Disney's homophobia, that's exactly what I'd wanted in a Star Wars film since The Force Awakens. I'm aware that it has been... controversial... to a degree, and so I'm just gonna hang out over here in my corner of "Star Wars at its core is goofy found family shenanigans in space."


End file.
